Feral

by Sheri WhiteFeather

  The spooning lasted a good ten minutes or so, and for Noah that seemed monumental. Even after he rolled over and put a gap between them, Jenny didn’t lose faith. This was the kind of bonding she’d been waiting for. To her, it unveiled the human side of his DNA and his ability to get close to a woman.

  Eleven

  Noah’s cell phone rang across the room, rousing him from sleep. He turned toward Jenny. Apparently the sound had awakened her, too. Their groggy gazes met.

  “Are you going to answer that?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “I don’t feel like talking to anyone.” He was far more interested in his lover and how compelling she looked with the threadbare sheet wrapped around her naked body. But after last night, why wouldn’t he be enthralled with her? The “Beauty and the Beast” game had been tons of twisted fun.

  The annoying chime finally quit. Silence really was golden. Not only was the room quiet, sunshine streamed through the window sheers, casting an amber glow.

  “We should come back to this place another time,” he said.

  Her voice sparkled, complementing the glittery light. “I’d love to.” She paused with a concerned expression. “But do you think they’ll let us after what you did to the bed?”

  “That’s nothing. Rock stars trash entire hotel rooms.”

  “Yes, but you rented the castle for a private masquerade. Aren’t they going to think that you took your character a bit too far?”

  “I already warned them that I was a method actor. And I gave them a black card, the American Express with the highest spending power. They won’t have any trouble charging me for the damages.”

  “I’ll bet a forensic expert would be intrigued by the claw marks.” She ran her finger along one of the cuts. “They’re consistent with that of a mountain lion, only they fit a human hand.”

  “Listen to you, the zoologist detective. Thing is, Ms. Big Cat Canyon, the police aren’t going to be called in. This isn’t a crime scene.”

  She smiled. “My corset and petticoat say otherwise.”

  He smiled, too, and just as he prepared to kiss her, his phone blasted again.

  “Someone is anxious to talk to you,” she said.

  “It might not even be the same caller.”

  “You should at least see if it is.”

  He waited until it quit ringing so it could go to voice mail; then he got out of bed and strode over to the desk, where the phone was. He checked the notifications. “It was Coyote. Both times.” Figured. Who else would be so persistent? “He left messages both times, too.” He listened to them and cursed beneath his breath. “He said that he’s been trying to reach you. That it’s important.”

  “Really? I left my phone in my room. Can I call him back on yours?”

  He frowned at her. “Did you tell him that we went away together?”

  “No. Did you?”

  “No.” And he wasn’t inclined to hand over the phone, either. “You hold tight, and I’ll call him.” He scrolled his contacts list and tapped the other man’s name.

  Coyote answered right away and Noah said, “What’s going on?”

  “I’d rather talk to Jenny. Do you know where she is?”

  “She’s with me.”

  “Then put her on.”

  “I can relay whatever it is.”

  “All right. But don’t get testy.”

  “Just spill it.”

  “I came up with a plan about how to find out more about the woman in Mexico.”

  Noah tightened his jaw. “Which is?”

  “I think Jenny should consult Sienna.”

  “Sienna isn’t going to know anything. She can’t get readings on me.”

  “True. But she should be able to get a reading on Jenny, and since you two are connected by your dream, I figured it was worth a shot.”

  Noah glanced at Jenny. She was perched on the edge of the bed, all eyes and all ears. She was still clutching the torn sheet, and her ragged beauty was a distraction he didn’t need, not while Coyote was blabbing about a troublesome topic. He turned away from her.

  Coyote continued, “I already told Sienna that Jenny knows the truth about you, and she’s willing to help. She even said that it’s okay if Jenny knows the truth about her.”

  “Why would she agree to something like that?”

  “She was fascinated by the sapiya and thinks that if they trust Jenny, then she should, too. Sienna is going to try to contact the sapiya during the reading.”

  Coyote sounded so proud and smug, Noah wanted to cram the phone up his butt. “I really hate that you’re enjoying this.”

  “I can’t wait to see what the end result is.” An annoying chuckle, then, “I’ve been trying to envision you being mortal, growing into a grumpy old man and whatnot. Oh, wait���you already are a grumpy old man. You just look young and spry.”

  “You’re a laugh a minute.”

  “At least I have a sense of humor. You need to loosen up, Noah.”

  Loosen up? While his immortality was being bandied about?

  “Tell Jenny that I’ll arrange a meeting with Sienna for next week,” Coyote said. He ended the conversation with a silly, “Tootles,” and the line went dead.

  Noah pushed the Power button and shut the damn thing off. He shifted his gaze back to his lover.

  She immediately said, “I heard you mention Sienna. Isn’t she the redhead from the club who dresses up like a vampire? Why were you and Coyote talking about her? And what does she have to do with me? And what did you mean by a reading?”

  “She doesn’t just dress like a vampire. She is a vampire. She’s also psychic, and Coyote spilled the beans and told her about my dream and your connection to it. So now she’s interested in doing a reading for you to see if she can uncover anything about the woman in Mexico.”

  “Oh, my goodness. A supernatural psychic?”

  “She can only read humans and other vampires. But according to Coyote, she’s fascinated by the sapiya and trusts you because of them. She hopes to use them as a catalyst for the information you’re seeking.”

  “Wow. This is something.”

  Yeah, it was something, all right. “I’m attending the reading with you.” Noah wasn’t about to let this go down without being present. Not only because he wanted to know everything that would be said and done, but also because he didn’t think it was a safe environment for Jenny without him.

  Sienna lived in a downtown loft. It was an unnerving place, Jenny thought, as she and Noah entered the building. Blacked-out windows, dark-paneled walls, and maroon satin drapery made the tightly closed lobby seem like the inside of a giant coffin. She doubted that Sienna was the only vampire who resided here. The lofts were probably filled with bloodsuckers from Noah’s club, maybe even some who weren’t members of his establishment.

  She tightened the jacket around her shoulders.

  “Did you catch a chill?” he asked.

  “I’m just glad you’re here with me.”

  “I figured you would be.” Before they approached a gated elevator, he added, “We can leave now before you get in any deeper than you already are.”

  “I want to keep going.” Bailing now didn’t make sense. It was too late to go back in time and undo her feelings for Noah, even if the outcome was uncertain, even if she didn’t have the courage to tell him that she hadn’t heeded his don’t-love-me warnings. “I want to know why the sapiya involved me in your dream.”

  “Yeah, and here we are on the verge of letting a vampire use her psychic voodoo to try to contact them. Lest you forget that they have the power to turn on any one of us?”

  “I haven’t forgotten what they’re capable of, but we’re not doing this out of disrespect. And apparently Sienna isn’t worried about what they’ll do or she wouldn’t have offered the reading.”

  “She isn’t the one whose immortality is being threatened.”

  Jenny looked closely at him. He was in human form, and the shadowy surroundings
created a ghostly effect, accentuating the hollow ridges of his cheekbones.

  “Are you afraid of being mortal again?” she asked.

  He scowled. “What kind of question is that?”

  “When my interest in saving you first came up, you scoffed at it, and now you’re referring to it as a threat.”

  “I’m just tired of being the butt of Coyote’s joke.”

  “So you don’t think there’s even the remotest possibility that I’m capable of saving you?”

  A muscle in his jaw ticked. “No.”

  “I think you do.”

  “You’re accusing me of lying?”

  “I didn’t mean it that way.”

  “If you keep pushing my buttons, I’m going to take off right now and let you fend for yourself tonight.”

  Instinctively, she touched the pulse at her neck. What would she do if an unknown vampire sniffed her out? Or if Sienna got the blood-hungry urge to take a little nip out of her?

  “Are you done being a know-it-all?” he asked.

  She nodded, and they entered the elevator. He pulled the gate closed. Up they went, to the second floor.

  The hallway led to three doorways. The last one belonged to Sienna. Noah knocked, and the sound of his knuckles hitting the wood echoed in Jenny’s ears.

  Sienna answered, wearing an emerald-green crushed-velvet dress, no shoes, glitter-painted toenails, and costume jewelry. Her thick red hair danced over her shoulders and down her back. Cranberry lipstick, black eyeliner, and a sprinkling of ladylike freckles stood stark against a porcelain complexion.

  “Come in,” she said.

  After they accepted the invitation, she approached Noah with a hug. Jenny’s hug followed, and as Sienna lingered over the embrace, their breasts touched.

  “You can let go now,” Noah said to the vampire.

  “Oh, sorry. Human flesh. It’s just so divine.”

  He replied, “Yes, I know. But her flesh belongs to me.”

  Being talked about in a possessive manner made Jenny feel like a pet on a leash. But it also gave her a jolt of arousal, and she imagined taking off her clothes and offering herself to Noah in front of Sienna.

  Suddenly the redhead shot her a playful smile, and her pulse quickened. Could Sienna read her thoughts?

  “Yes, darling, I can,” the psychic said. “Especially when it involves things like that.”

  Oh, God.

  “What the fuck’s going on?” Noah asked.

  “Just girl talk,” Sienna told him. “Right, Jenny?”

  She jerked out a nod.

  Sienna reached for her hand. “Come, let’s sit at my table and see what kind of mischief we can conjure.”

  They were already conjuring mischief. As soon as Jenny’s gaze strayed to the bedroom, which was an open area in the corner, she pictured herself kneeling on the bed, with Noah mounting her doggie-style.

  The vampire squeezed her hand, and Jenny’s nerves tumbled. Why couldn’t she keep her dirty thoughts to herself?

  Noah followed the females, and the silent trio gathered at a wrought-iron table with a tiled-mosaic top.

  Struggling to cool her sexual heels, Jenny focused on the mystical décor. Tapestries colored the walls and Persian rugs decorated the floor. Like the lobby, the windows had been blackened.

  Sienna started the reading. “Think about the sapiya,” she said to Jenny. “Visualize them in your mind.”

  “I’ve never seen them. I only know what Noah has told me.”

  “Then think about that.”

  Jenny concentrated. Little magic stones that can jump around like fleas and multiply by themselves. Stones you have to catch and feed and water. Stones that attract other people and bring anyone you want to your door.

  “That’s good,” the psychic said. She lit a pink candle that was on the center of the table, and a cherry-blossom scent filled the air.

  “This is stupid,” Noah grumbled.

  He received a glare from Sienna. “What’s the matter with you? Are you afraid that I’ll uncover something you won’t want to hear?”

  Ha. Jenny shot him a look, too. “I think he’s afraid of being mortal again.”

  He shifted into cat mode and snarled at her. She flinched, wishing she’d kept her mouth shut, particularly when Sienna reprimanded Noah with a snakelike hiss. The redhead’s fangs popped out and her delicate features turned gargoyle-ish.

  Jenny reached for the edge of the table and gripped it. Vampires weren’t the least bit pretty when they were mad. Noah was none too pretty, either. He flashed his claws and growled at Sienna. Jenny’s grip tightened.

  The power struggle raged on, until Sienna pulled a fast one and threw Noah off-kilter. She arrogantly crooned, “Your lover wants to fuck you in front of me.”

  Jenny paled as he whipped his head toward her. She could actually feel the color leaving her face. Talk about being thrown under the bus.

  “Is that true?” he asked.

  “It was just a fantasy. I wasn’t going to act on it.”

  His fire-gold gaze bored into hers. “Maybe I should act on it. Maybe I should yank you onto my lap and have at it right now.”

  Sienna interjected, “Her fantasy was doggie-style in my bed. And I’d be more than glad to participate, to lie beneath her and fondle her clit.”

  “I’m not sharing her with you,” he snapped.

  The vampire hissed, and the cat/man growled again. With equal intensity, they jumped out of their chairs, preparing to battle over Jenny as if she were a morsel of fresh meat.

  “Stop!” A cluster of voices came out of the air simultaneously. But that wasn’t the only jarring occurrence. An invisible force slammed Noah and Sienna back in their seats, treating them like bickering children on a time-out.

  Their stunned expressions would have been comical if Jenny hadn’t been just as startled.

  Sienna recovered first. “It’s the sapiya,” she announced, returning to her pretty self.

  Noah shifted into a calm exterior, too, and the little stones manifested into physical form. Jenny stared at them. They looked like typical pebbles you would find on the ground, only they were jumping around on the table. Some were even hopping over the candle, playing tag with the flame.

  Sienna reached out to touch one, but it moved so fast, she couldn’t get anywhere near it, proving how difficult they were to catch.

  “We don’t belong to you,” their collective voices said to her.

  “Who do you belong to?” she asked.

  “No one.”

  Like a medium with a prized ghost, the psychic conducted the interview. “Tell me about the woman in Mexico who turned Noah into what he is.”

  “Her name is Lareina. It means ‘the queen’ in Spanish.”

  Sienna quickly proceeded. “Is she a queen of some sort?”

  While the question hovered, Jenny scooted to the edge of her seat, anxious to know everything about Lareina. She glanced at Noah. He was fixed on the conversation, too.

  But the sapiya didn’t respond.

  Sienna frowned, but forged ahead. “How did Lareina become a shapeshifter?”

  Jenny waited, praying the little stones would cooperate. But they didn’t. Once again, they chose not to answer.

  Sienna prompted them. “Why aren’t you giving us the information we’re looking for?”

  “We told you her name.”

  “Yes, but we want to know more.”

  “Then find Lareina and ask her.”

  “How?”

  Yes, how? Jenny thought, as her heart pounded in anticipation.

  The question was ignored.

  Sienna worked a different angle. “Why did you come to Noah in a dream and why did you tell him to reveal the truth about himself to Jenny?”

  Another looming question. Everyone waited.

  The sapiya danced in little circles. Then they said, “Because she has blood ties to the magic.”

  Jenny heard Noah’s sharp intake of air. She suck
ed in a breath, too.

  “What magic?” Sienna asked.

  The twirling stones didn’t reply. They jumped up, one by one, and vanished as abruptly as they’d appeared, extinguishing the cherry-blossom candle in their wake.

  In the wax-dripping silence, Sienna looked at Jenny. Noah did, too.

  “Read her,” he said to the psychic. “Tap into the blood tie.”

  “I’m trying, but I can’t feel her energy anymore. The sapiya must have blocked it from me.”

  “Fuck.” He stood up and pushed away from the table. “So now what? We’re supposed to theorize?”

  “Or figure out how to find Lareina,” Jenny said.

  Noah got angrier. “I don’t give a flying crap about Lareina or the magic you’re tied to. All I wanted was a goddamn affair with you.”

  Sienna came to Jenny’s defense. “Don’t take this out on her. I think we should all just play nice and let off some steam in bed.”

  He rounded on the redhead. “We’re not having a fucking threesome. I already told you that my prey isn’t up for grabs.”

  “Your prey?” she taunted him. “Are you sure she doesn’t mean more to you than that? For a man who only wanted an affair, you’re awfully territorial about her.”

  “Because I don’t want you feeding on her clit? For all I know, you’ll turn her into a vampire behind my back.”

  Sienna rolled her eyes. “Go,” she said to Jenny. “Take him out of here, and use your magic blood tie against him if you can. It would serve him right.”

  Jenny didn’t want to use anything against anyone. Her feelings for Noah hadn’t changed. She loved him, and based on his asinine behavior and Sienna’s observant remark, she suspected that he was falling in love with her, too.

  Twelve

  Noah got behind the wheel and slammed his door shut. Jenny was already buckled into the passenger seat. He should’ve shared her with Sienna. He should’ve proved that he didn’t give a damn if the vampire played with his prey.

  The woman with blood ties to the magic.

  Annoyed and confused, he started the engine. The Jaguar roared to life. It was the vehicle he’d offered to let Jenny drive. He remembered mentioning it to her when she’d first given him a tour of the rescue. That was when he’d been in control, or when he’d thought he’d been in control. If he knew then what he knew now, he wouldn’t have embarked on this affair.